


Haunted

by Alexa_Piper



Series: Phic Phight 2K19 [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: But in a humorous way, slight warning for spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-30 19:18:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18321584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexa_Piper/pseuds/Alexa_Piper
Summary: Something weird/drastic is happening to Danny and no one can figure out what's going on. Figuring it has something to do with being a halfa, the gang has to ask Vlad for help. Phic Phight prompt by bodingly.





	Haunted

The buzzing of the fluorescent lights was clearly audible in the silence of the office. The occasional quiet murmur of distant chatter would seep through the walls, but for the most part, there was nothing to distract the mayor from his work.

Vlad took a sip from his steaming mug, the coffee bitter but still not satisfying. Nothing was ever hot enough anymore. He curled both hands around the ceramic, pouring power through his fingers in a wave of heat that pushed the drink back to boiling point before tasting it again.

Still disappointing, but it was a little better.

He set the mug back onto the table and returned to the laptop in front of him, scowling as he opened his latest e-mail. Another permit request, forwarded directly to the mayor because nobody in his office was willing to take responsibility for the cleanup effort in the wake of ghost attacks. He would have to assign it to somebody, maybe hire an entire team…

The door burst open, swinging with enough force to crash into the wall behind it. “Vlad, I need your help!”

Vlad jolted at the sudden interruption, his elbow knocking against the cup of coffee and sending it spilling across his desk.

“Daniel,” he snapped, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and using it to blot the spreading puddle before it could drip onto his suit, “what are you doing here? How did you get past my secretary?”

Danny rolled his eyes and flickered out of visibility for a heartbeat. “How do you think, Fruitloop?”

Vlad scowled as the boy’s two friends filed into the room as well. The girl, Manson, seemed particularly unimpressed if her caustic glare was anything to go by. The Foley boy shut the door, muffling the sounds from the other council offices.

Vlad closed the lid of his laptop with a sigh. The e-mails were building up, and he really didn’t have time today for whatever thinly-veiled prank attempt these children had concocted now. “Hurry up,” he said. “Some of us actually have work to do today.”

Danny suddenly seemed less eager to talk. He looked down at his shoes, shifting from foot to foot and shoving his hands in his pockets. “We can’t figure out how to stop it,” he eventually mumbled, red flushing his cheeks.

The girl shoved him in the shoulder. “Go on,” she coaxed when his words stalled.

Danny took a step away from his friends, looking up at Vlad with eyes that shone with desperation. “Is it a halfa thing?” he blurted. “Do you get haunted by the things you’ve killed?”

Ice swept through Vlad’s chest, and he realised that this visit might not have anything to do with their currently ongoing prank war. “What are you talking about?” he breathed. Had Danny actually killed someone? How could he have missed that?! Horrible images rose to the forefront of his mind, of Phantom losing control and turning on the very citizens he tried so hard to protect…

Danny’s hands were out of his pockets now, tearing at his hair in desperation. “Spiders, Vlad. I’m talking about spiders! Jazz won’t kill them for me anymore, she says I need to face my fear, but now whenever I kill one it comes back as a ghost and hangs out on my bedroom  _ wall! _ I’ve tried the thermos but they just come back, I’ve tried ectoblasts but all that’s done is put holes in the wall, I’ve tried everything but I still wake up with glowing green spiders on my  _ face!” _

He stood there in the middle of the room, wild-eyed and panting, and Vlad could only wonder if he had heard correctly. It was just too funny, and he couldn’t stop a grin from creeping across his face. “So you’ve come to me because you think spiders are haunting you because you’re a halfa?”

Danny nodded, jerking his head in the direction of his friends. “We tried to figure it out, but it won’t stop. I try to put the spiders outside instead of killing them, but no matter what I do, there are more of them every night!”

Vlad leaned over his desk and massaged his eyes with the heels of his hands, trying to hold back his laughter. “Put a ghost shield around your room,” he suggested once he was confident that his voice would remain level. “You can walk through it in your human form, but the spiders can’t get into your bedroom anymore.”

“So it  _ is _ because I’m a halfa?”

Vlad dropped his hands, giving the boy his best unimpressed stare. “You live on top of a ghost portal,” he reminded him. “Combine that with the energy of your core, and what do you  _ think _ will happen when insects are killed in your house?”

Danny’s made a small sound of realisation. “Oh. So it’s normal?”

Vlad waved a weary hand. “I’m busy,” he reminded the teens. “Try the shield.”

The boy gave a tentative smile. “Uh, thanks, Vlad. See you later, I guess.” He grabbed his friends’ arms and turned them invisible.

Vlad didn’t move until their heartbeats had faded out of the room.

“Maybe I should tone it down a bit,” he mused, opening up his laptop again. He held out his hand, watching as ectoplasm coalesced in his palm. It broke into several small blobs that formed into little balls of light with eight spindly legs. “Then again,” he told the tiny glowing spiders, “he  _ did _ prank me first.”

The ectoplasmic arachnids scuttled off his fingers and over the edge of the table, winking into invisibility when they reached the carpet. That boy was a fool for thinking that the shield would do anything to stop Vlad’s little friends when it only covered the walls and ceiling. Why did the Fentons always seem to forget that ghosts can phase through floors as well?

Vladimir Masters was not about to lose this war.

One more night of the spiders, and then he’d move on to mice.


End file.
